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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03282012 Minutes�� �..,�� ���M/'w pp � HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012 - 6:30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA Mayor Hill called the regular meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Invocation was given by Pastor Seth Goldsmith, Coastal Community Church. 3. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Council Member Gillmor 4. ROLL CALL Citv Council Present: Mayor Jim Hill Vice-Mayor pon Wright Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Richard H. Gillmor Council Member Bob McPartlan Staff Present: City Manager, AI Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Deputy City Clerk, Jeanette Williams Community Development Director, Joseph Griffin Administrative Services Director, Deb Krueger Building Director, Wayne Eseltine Finance Director, Ken Killgore Deputy Police Chief, Greg Witt MIS Engineer Analyst, Rob Messersmith 5. AGENDA MODIFICATIONS Modifications and additions require unanimous voted of City Council Members None. 6. PROCLAMATIONS. AWARDS, BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENTS Presentations of proclamations, certificates and awards, and brief timely announcements by Council and Staff. No public input or action under this heading. Mayor Hill changed the order of the next items to accommodate the recipients. 12.038 C. Proclamation — National Telecommunicators' Weeks — April 8— 14, 2012 Mayor Hill read the proclamation and presented it to three of the City Police Department dispatchers. Regular City Council Meeting March 28, 2012 Page Two 12.039 D. Presentation of Citv of Sebastian Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFTR) bv Harris, Cotherman, Jones, Price and Associates (Report Under Separate Cover) Ross Cotherman, of Harris, Cotherman, Jones, Price and Associates, noted the the Government Finance Officers Certificate of Achievement is a volunteer program and the current year's statement will no doubt receive the same certificate; briefly outlined various sections of the report for the benefit of Council (pg 5 management letter, pg 77 historical statistics, pgs 111 single audit section, pg 113 grants, pg 119 management letter, pg 120 Auditor General rules) and noted comments were provided advising that the purchasing card program should have a policy signed by employees which has been completed. He thanked the Administrative Services staff for their high level of professionalism and cooperation. Council thanked the auditors for their report. 12.033 B. Certificates of Appreciation to Alan Kavser and Michele Hennessev for their Planninq and Zoninq Commission Service Mr. Kayser and Ms. Hennessey were not in attendance and their certificates will be provided to them. 12.037 A. Emplovee of the 4th Quarter — Linda Lohsl Blasko Mayor Hill read a brief description of Ms. Blasko's duties, presented her with a plaque and thanked her for her commitment to the City. E. Brief Announcements i. Easter Egg Hunt in Riverview Park East — April 7th, 2012 at 10 a.m. Mr. Gillmor announced the Sebastian River Art Club judged two day show in Riverview Park this weekend. Mayor Hill announced the Easter Egg Hunt in Riverview Park on April 7cn 7. CONSENT AGENDA All items on the consent agenda are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of consent agenda items unless a member of City Council so requests; in which event, the item will be removed and acted upon separately. If a member of the public wishes to provide input on a consent agenda item, he/she should request a Council Member to remove the item for discussion prior to start of the meeting or by raising his✓her hand to be recognized. A. Approval of Minutes — 3/14/12 Meeting 12.040 B. Approve FY 2012-2013 Budget Calendar (Administrative Services Transmittal, Calendar) 12.041 C. Resolution No. R-12-11 - Partial Vacation of Easement 874 Carnation Drive (Community Development Transmittal, R-12-11, Site Map, Staff Report, Application, Utility Letters) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, VACATING A PORTION OF A CERTAIN EASEMENT ON LOT 20, BLOCK 232, SEBASTIAN HIGHLANDS UNIT 6; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS HEREWITH; PROVIDING FOR RECORDING; PROVIDING FOR EFFECTIVE DATE. 2 Regular City Council Meeting March 28, 2012 Page Three MOTION by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Ms. Coy to approve consent agenda items A-C. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 5-0. 8. COMMITTEE REPORTS & APPOINTMENTS City committee reports and Council Member regional committee reports. No public input or action except for City committee member nominations and appointments under this heading. 12.042 A. Accept Communitv Redevelopment Agencv (CRA) Annual Report of Activities as Required bv FS and Announce Availabilitv of Document to Public (Finance Director Transmittal, Report) The City Manager said this was the final action to accept the CRA report. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Wright to accept the CRA report. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 5-0. 9. PUBLIC HEARING - None 10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12.043 A. Discussion — Potential Fertilizer Ordinance (Citv Manaqer Transmittal, Model Ordinance, Proposed Ordinance, F.S. 403.9337. Chart) The City Manager said he was looking for direction on how to move forward, noting the City, because it is on impaired waters, is required to move forward with the model ordinance. 6:52 pm Public Input Jane Schnee, said she lived on Marathon Key for 20 years and when she left she couldn't see six inches into the water, nothing could survive, so she moved to Sebastian and did not want to move again, she hoped we can stop pollution in the Indian River Lagoon particularly by phosphates and fertilizers. Graham Cox, said he was attending for Dr. Richard Baker, Audubon Society, who asked him to come and support the ordinance. He said they were working on quality of life indicators for the County to include water quality and iYs relation to the overloading of nutrients that shouldn't be there, referred to an e-mail from David Botto explaining how crucial it is to keep the nutrients out of the water (see attached). He said there are two repetitive sections on page 7 of the draft ordinance in regard to commercial applicators, and said we need to do the best that we can. 3 Regular City Council Meeting March 28, 2012 Page Four Todd Jasko, Florida Turfgrass Association, said he supported the fertilizer ordinance and limiting nutrients, but was concerned with the additional recommendations by the Natural Resources Board as they go against the FDEP, Florida Department of Agriculture and the University of Florida IFAS who put together the model ordinance. He said the Natural Resources Board recommendations have been rejected by those entities because they are not based on sound science and have negative consequences and he asked that ordinance be adopted as written for the best interest of water quality. Mayor Hill noted the agenda transmittal says the Natural Resources Board made a recommendation and asked the City Manager to clarify how the recommendation was presented. The City Manager said his transmittal was poor word choice, the Board didn't make a recommendation but discussed it, and he included the avenues of direction he was seeking from Council which are to adopt the model ordinance or the more stringent ordinance that was discussed by the Board. Mayor Hill said the transmittal indicates the Board made a recommendation of the ordinance with two additional measures but he did not think the Board made the formal recommendation. The City Clerk noted the Board had been asked to write their individual recommendations and provide them to the Board Liaison, Ginny Sieferd, who compiled them and put them in Council mailboxes in January. Mayor Hill clarified that the Board didn't make a motion with a second with the passing of the recommendation so there is no direction from the Board on this issue. Ms. Coy said the Board did have discussion and it was compiled and she suggested sending it back to the Board for a formal recommendation. Mayor Hill clarified that in his opinion a recommendation to Council as stated, did not occur. He and Ms. Coy agreed to disagree. Mr. Wright said as he reviewed the documents, he found that local governments can consider scientific information from Florida agencies to develop a more stringent ordinance which then becomes public record. He said he didn't think the City had gathered the scientific data which could be an on going issue and suggested those wanting the more stringent ordinance help with the gathering of data. He noted in the last section of the ordinance does not apply to farm operations, expressed concern because they have a significant water system that moves a lot of the fertilizer from the farms into this area. He said he would like to identify the real sources and look at viable options for homeowners. He asked the City Manager how they will comply with the requirement of keeping grass clippings out of the storm water conveyance noted on page 64 (q). The City Manager responded there is a similar statement in the Florida Friendly model but the direct answer is there isn't a way to enforce it, but the ordinance is intended as an educational ordinance so folks can manage their property with the best management standards as the commercial and governmental applicators do. � Regular City Council Meeting March 28, 2012 Page Five Mr. Wright said if it is meant to educate, how it will be put out to public. The City Manager said they will post it on the website, post at City Hall and have literature. Mr. Wright said they should follow up on the education to improve the water quality and be a good objective. Mr. Gillmor said the Natural Resources Board did talk about the ordinance but made no motion, the ordinance came from the Treasure Coast Regional League of Cities, he also lived in the Keys and personally has seen the waterways degraded, and he asked if the Florida law is requiring the City to adopt the model ordinance. The City Manager said that is how he reads the statute. Mr. Gillmor said the ordinance will be primarily educational, there will be no fertilizer/clipping police, and at the very least, they should enact the model ordinance. 7:13 pm He said he agreed with Mr. Wright, that if they tried to put more teeth into the ordinance, they would need the scientific documentation cited on page 68. MOTION by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Mr. Wright to bring back the model ordinance as an agenda item. Ms. Coy said it is distressing to see Sebastian is in the watershed of an impaired water body, asked why accept the minimum standards, she would support the Natural Resources Board's recommendation. Mayor Hill said they are all concerned about our waterways, the City has led the way over the last ten years with many stormwater projects to reduce runoff and those projects have made him proud of what they have done. He said the problem with blackout dates is that you need to rely on science; the State ordinance requires best management practices and noted the professionals are not the problem, because the State in January 2014 will require a license for commercial applicators. He cited his 20 years experience and two degrees and noted he has probably applied thousands of pounds of fertilizer and never had a single incident so the professionals are not the ones they should be going after. He said if they passed more than the State requirement it would hurt the industry, the turfgrass will take up those nutrients, and he would support the State model ordinance because it is required but nothing stricter than that. Mr. McPartlan asked if this ordinance applies to only professionals and the City Manager responded that in January 2014 the State will require licensed lawn care professionals applying to urban landscapes to be licensed, and a private property owner does not need to be licensed and the ordinance says they are going to follow best management practices. Mr. Wright noted on page 65 there is a reference to non-commercial applicators who are encouraged to follow the ordinance. Mayor Hill pointed out that was the ordinance provided by the City Attorney as a more strict ordinance. The City Manager noted that is not in the Florida Friendly ordinance. The City Attorney responded to Mr. McPartlan's question, noting it does apply to homeowners as well, citing definitions in the model ordinance for "application" and "person" and also "prohibited application period" noting those are the times when homeowners should not be applying fertilizer. 5 Regular City Council Meeting March 28, 2012 Page Six Mr. McPartlan said he saw the benefits of the Florida Friendly model ordinance, they could start small, and if it needs to be tweaked it can come back. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: Gillmor, McPartlan, Hill, Wright NAY: Coy Passed 4-1 (Coy — nay). 11. PUBLIC INPUT — none. 12. NEW BUSINESS 12.004 A. Resolution No. R-12-10- FY 12 1St Quarter Budqet Amendment (Administrative Services Transmittal, R-12-10, Comparison Actual to Budaet, Capital Proiect Status. Schedule of Investments, Accomplishments) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, ADOPTING AN AMENDED BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2011 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 AS PROVIDED FOR IN EXHIBIT "A"; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The City Attorney read the title of Resolution No. R-12-10 and the Finance Director briefly explained the amendment, and investments status. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Wright to approve Resolution No. R-12-10. In response to Mr. Gillmor the Finance Director explained unexpended funds for unfinished projects from the previous year are carried over, and it does not reflect an increase in revenues. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 5-0. 12.044 B. Authorize City Manaqer to Solicit Bids for FY `10 Pavinq Bank Note at Lower Interest Rate Due to Current Market Conditions (Administrative Services Transmittal, Schedules) The City Manager said staff was looking to proceed with refinancing the bank note based on the current interest rate drop, to extend the note one year which will enable them to budget for more street improvements. 7:35 pm MOTION by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Mr. Wright to move approval of staff recommendation. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 5-0. � Regular City Council Meeting March 28, 2012 Page Seven 12.036 C. First Readinq of Ordinance No. 0-12-05 — Veterans Advisorv Board — Set Public Hearing for April 25, 2012 (City Attornev Transmittal. Proposed 0-12-05) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, CREATING THE VETERANS ADVISORY BOARD; PROVIDING MEMBERSHIP, MISSION, PROCEDURES, AND A REPEALER; REFERENCING CONFLICTING PROVISIONS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The City Attorney read the title of Ordinance No. 0-12-05 and the City Manager said this was directed by City Council. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Gillmor to pass ordinance No. 0-12-05 on first reading. Ms. Coy said Ed Irons from the American Legion, and Jack Willis from VFW were present to answer any questions. The City Attorney noted the public hearing for final adoption will take place on April 25tn Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 5-0. 12.045 D. Lease Option — Sebastian Municipal Airport Buildinq - National Aperture, Inc. — Salem, New Hampshire (Airport/Economic Development Transmittal, Offer, Profile, Process, MOU, Lease Option) The City Manager said the Community Development Director has been working with National Aperture on this, they are almost ready to commit, and for today are asking for a lease option, and if they move in, they will pay $8.50 per sq ft and create six new jobs. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Wright to approve. Mr. Wright asked for clarification on the term and the Community Development Director said if they choose to activate the lease option it would be a five year lease with a three year option, they had one year to finalize the option and activate it, and it will come back to Council prior to that action. In response to Mr. Wright who asked if there are any environmental concerns, the Director said the machine shop will stay in New Hampshire and their clean operation will be here, in fact, they are looking at a large open area the lease site to make a"clean" room for their production. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None. Passed 5-0. 13. CITY ATTORNEY MATTERS — none. 7 Regular City Council Meeting March 28, 2012 Page Eight 14. CITY MANAGER MATTERS The City Manager announced the Police Pension ordinance will be brought forward for a public hearing on April 11th and has been advertised. 12.027 A. Schumann Park Palmetto Hedge (No Backup) The City Manager said the Parks and Recreation Committee is asking to keep the hedge and staff will keep it trimmed. There was no objection. 15. CITY CLERK MATTERS - None 16. CITY COUNCIL MATTERS A. Council Member Cov Ms. Coy said she would like to invite FPL to give a presentation for the benefit of the public at an open forum on installation of smart meters, because she has been receiving calls and can't answer citizen questions. She suggested one in the afternoon and one in the evening. She said she and Amy Brunjes with FPL have exchanged phone messages. Mayor Hill said it was a fantastic idea, said it could include information about the proposed rate increase and suggested it be in chambers so it can be televised. Everyone concurred and it was agreed it would not be a Council meeting. Ms. Coy said she was meeting with the Manager of Home Depot who called on ideas he had to work with the City on Team Depot projects to benefit seniors and she would report back to Council. B. Council Member Gillmor Mr. Gillmor agreed with FPL giving a presentation on smart meters, noting they had spoken to Treasure Coast League of Cities. Mr. Gillmor suggested an idea to "Spruce up Sebastian", that it would be great if the City would sponsor a Spring Cleaning weekend, suspend fees so churches could fix up houses in need of repair and maybe replace sections of fence that have fallen down. He said there are some local churches that will be doing work for folks who don't have the capacity to clean up. Mayor Hill suggested he compile the information and bring it forward. Ms. Coy expressed concern for suspending fees for building permits because that is technical and important. Mr. Gillmor said there is a church that will be putting on a roof and they are raising the money for the permit. C. Council Member McPartlan - none. Regular City Council Meeting March 28, 2012 Page Nine D. Mavor Hill 12.026 i. Impact Fee Discussion (No Backup) Mayor Hill said he watched the last meeting while he was away, and there was discussion on impact fees, and direction to go forward to schedule a Mayors' meeting to provide information. Mr. Wright said he had addressed the County Commission and by a split vote they had continued the suspension of some of the impact fees already under suspension. He said he had made a presentation that they consider suspending impact fees, that there had been a motion but it failed to move forward for lack of second. He said in Indian River County the three biggest problems are close to 18% unemployment, 50% reduction of property values, and the crushing burden of social services, that our primary industries are citrus, tourism and construction and construction is extremely bad, and asked what can municipal government do to turn that around. He said he would like to get a dialogue going in Indian River County about what can be done for a more positive effect. He said local business and homeowners want to expand their business and the fees are an impediment, citing Capt Hiram's Squiddly's Books, and the Stihl Oil property, and said we owe it to the citizens to help them. Mayor Hill said he appreciated Mr. WrighYs work on this and his passion, and agreed we need to do what we can to generate growth, reminding Council that six years ago we tried to stymie growth, but times are changing. He said he was pleased IRC added two years to the suspension of some of the fees, but he would like to have a clear understanding if we eliminated all fees, for example when Liberty Square is finally developed or when other development starts up, who will pay for road improvements. Mr. Wright said the requirements to approve a subdivision are to take care of access roads, the roads in the subdivision and the water which are substantial. Mayor Hill said he believed that discussion needs to occur before Council goes forward and Mr. Wright responded Council did that already and had a vote to suspend impact fees. Mayor Hill said that was approved, but there was also discussion of getting other communities involved, but he would like to discuss all ramifications of eliminating fees first. Mr. Wright said one of the Commissioners said he would like to get input back from the Mayors' meeting, and said he knew that the City of Fellsmere would like to discuss this and the discussion would be about the ramifications, so it would be a good forum to put it on the table and get input from other Mayors, and discuss coming to an understanding as to what we can or cannot do to help citizens. Mayor Hill said they were on the same page, and a Mayors meeting would be good forum but there was talk going around of a North County opt out, and replacing the fees with gas tax and they have to have their arms fully wrapped around it. He said he would be happy to call a Mayor's meeting with Mr. Wright representing Sebastian Council to gather information. Mr. Wright said the comment about withdrawing was suggested by Commissioner Gary Wheeler. E Regular City Council Meeting March 28, 2012 Page Ten Ms. Coy said maybe Council should discuss it first but Mayor Hill said the idea would be simply to have a Mayors' meeting and come back with information for Council discussion, and best to wait until all information is put out there. Ms. Coy agreed as long as there was no commitment on our part. Mayor Hill said the Mayors' decision would have to come back to their Councils since one person could not make a decision for the governing body. E. Vice Mayor Wriqht Mr. Wright said his presentation made at the County meeting for impact fees would be the basis for discussion at Mayors' meeting. He noted in looking for solutions to problems requires people to discuss things they have put away and aren't comfortable bringing back to the table and he looked forward to moving ahead. 17. Being no further business, Mayor Hill adjourned the regular meeting at 8:08 pm. Approved t the Ap il 11, 2012 Regular City Council meeting. �--_..-- _, _--� i ill, Mayor ATT�S�: / t � ���_ Sally A. Mai , MMC — City Clerk 10 Page 1 of 1 Saily Maio From: David Botto [dbotto1 @cfl.rr.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 12:30 PM To: Jim Hill Cc: Ken Tworoger; Richard Baker; Walt StieglitZ Subject: Fertilizer Ordinance FROM: David Botto, Chair, Fisheries Campaign, Marine Resources Council TO: Mayor Hill and City Council Members Dear Mayor Hill; We have read the proposed fertilizer ordinance that you will be considering today. We commend Sebastian for taking this important step to join the effort to save our treasured Indian River Lagoon fishery. Empirical evidence is overwhelming that nutrient pollution from urban fertilizer run off is causing serious harm to the Indian River Lagoon. The lagoon suffers from up to 50% more phosphorus and nitrogen than it can handle.The result is loss of sea grass, reducing our fin and shell fisheries and a multi-billion dollar industry. The cost of cleaning the pollutants from the lagoon, to be shared by basin communities, will be very high. Control at the source will cost nothing and, even with only 50% compliance, has been shown to reduce by as much as 28% the volume of nutrients reaching impacted waters. This solves over half of the 50% over load problem at no cost. We Floridians traditionally over fertilize and over water our lawns. We had better change our ways or suffer loss of our fishery. The longer we delay, the more difficult and costly will be the cure. A strong fertilizer ordinance has been enacted by over 50 Florida governments. It is a valuable educational tool and results have been better than expected as property owners and professional applicators move to support what they see as the right thing to do. Tampa Bay reports that sea grass is expanding at a rate of 600 acres a year. The core requirements for an ordinance that will effect a meaningful reduction in nutrient pollution in the waterways are (a) zero use of fertilizer containing phosphorus unless bonafide soil tests show that there is a deficiency and (b) the use of fertilizer containing at least 50% slow release nitrogen to reduce rapid leaching and run off loss of active nitrogen into the waters. We believe that these are the minimum requirements and are essential to an effective ordinance. Compliance with these requirements has proven to result in both an expanding fishery and improved plant health. In view of this, we respectfully suggest that, in your proposed ordinance, the wording of the definition of Fertilizer be changed to delete the stated exception of mixes of weed and feed and pesticides. Pesticides and herbicides are very harmful to marine life and, most important, this exception provides a huge loophole for sellers and applicators to avoid the restriction on nutrient over use that is the purpose of this ordinance. The exception has the potential to void entirely the main objective. Sincerely, David Botto 3/27/2012